The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the week:  ‘Two Brothers’ by Hanni El Khatib (Holy Ghost! remix)

Slap that bass, baby! How about that one to get this on the road, eh? Add to that some synths and some '80s soundtrack sounds to big it all up, and you are off to the races with this one. High paced disco for those long summer nights where you can use that extra jolt of hgh nrgy. To make it even more disco-ish you get some horns in too, and there’s also a nice bit of piano to go on top of the beat to keep this one going. A little while after, the vocals come in for the first time, telling us that our brothers, mothers, and children love us, and crazy uncle Randall down in the basement probably loves us a little bit too. More horns after the first run of vocals, and you can never go wrong with those. Then you get this nice little build-up with primarily beat, synths, and vocals, with a dash of guitar thrown in there for good measure, after which around 3:50 the bass takes off with the loot and makes a grooving dash for it. These lads know how to make a catchy, groovy tune, with this one sounding especially disco compared to some of their other work (blame it on the horns and the way they use some of the synths). Again, lovely high paced, and sure to get the people dancing as if on a cocktail of a couple of energy drinks and some lovin’.

‘Rock Steady’ by The Whispers (JKriv edit)

I’m not one to say no to a good seven minutes of disco. JKriv starts out with the beat to get this edit of The Whispers ‘Rock Steady’ on the road. Soon enough, you get some of that bass guitar in, along with the vocals, after which more and more of the original sounds enter the vincinity. And just after the minute mark you get the full back-to-the-disco vibe, with the beat sliding down to the background to get the full The Whispers experience going. Which means some Steady rocking all night long (rocking ‘till the break of dawn). JKriv makes sure to herald the stars of the show here, giving it this lovely slower-to-mid disco pace where the vocals keep going and going. Until the four minute mark that is, when you get some piano solo first, and then a little bit more emphasis on the bass. Soon after though, you get those soulful vocals in there again, talking about how he almost gave up on courting her, before they started to rock, steady! A lovely edit that keeps all of that old school magic right there in the spotlight.

‘Another Way’ by Crooked Colours (Mickey Kojak’s Soundtrack edition)

I love the drums that this one has, gives it some punch from the get go I reckon. Add some dreamy vocals to that, a dash of those space sounds, and you have quite the beginning for this Soundtrack edition. After a couple of seconds in Mickey Kojak dials down the drums for a bit, to bring them back later along with some additional synths firing their sounds off to help them out. I love the added synths around the two minute mark, they give it this nice, little touch that I really like. This carefree line of sound that floats its way in between the heavier weaponry. At the three minute mark it’s a moment of vocals-and-synth only to calm everyone the fuck down for a moment or so, after which you get the drums back, but not before you have this lovely dramatic, theatrical moment of vocals in there, which does kind of gets me smiling. The combination of all these things makes it definitely worthwhile to have a listen to, I’d reckon.

‘Make It Easy’ by Ben Browning

Ben Browning wants us to feel good this summer, and with ‘Make It Easy’ he sure keeps it light and fresh like a nice, cool salad you’re enjoying at the beach to secure yourself that bathing suit/speedo figure. Where Cut Copy - the band he is in - tends to veer towards the all-out dance side of synth-pop these days, this one slides into the jammy, lets-have-fun-together end of it all. He advises to "Make no money, make it easy" (how, exactly, that makes it easy is up for debate), and obviously there is a nifty bassline hidden down there somewhere to keep this one moving forward, along with plenty of auxiliary sounds, most eye-catching of which the guitar riffs that he has put in. This one is the first single off of his debut album called Turns, which will be in shops this summer.

‘All U Writers’ by !!!

Again with the bass, wow, that one immediately lays down the rules of the land I’d say. Nic Offer comes in with a deeeep voice to get that nightclub dirty out there, which gets juxtaposed by that light-pitched synth sound that they float around. Later on we get some more singing vocals, which are decidedly higher pitched, though the bass still keeps it on the down low and grooving forward. There are some nifty auxiliary sounds thrown in there, though none more lovely than the guitar stand-off that starts just before the three minute mark. In the mean time, the heavily worked vocals keep on coming at you from all sides, and at the 3:40 mark you get the bass back in to do some of that down-to-the-ground dancing to. I loved the most recent !!! album quite a bit, and this again is just a great track to be shaking some hips on, with Offer leading it from right up front, no doubt.

‘Heard It’ by Marvin Gaye (Late Nite Tuff Guy edit)

You know you need this in your life, don’t you? Starts out with a flurry of, ehrm, strings? On top of which, soon enough, you get that soulful voice of Marvin Gaye (which, soon enough, you’ll get in stereo, no less). After the initial, theatrical start LNTG gets the groove on with some bass and percussion, some original sounds, and some new, auxiliary sounds to help out as well. And, of course, quite a bit of Marvin Gaye and his backing gals singing that, yes, I’ve heard it through the grapevine (that no longer you will be mine). Love the use of that guitar just before the two minute mark, and about half an hour later you get some of those strings from the start reappearing again. LNTG does a good job pacing this, not going full party mode, but he knows when to take it down a notch for a moment to let this catch its breath before hitting the run+sprint button again. Not that this is fast paced, mind you, it’s got a nice little groove to it, led by that bass. Gaye can be heard a plenty, so fans definitely don’t need to feel short-changed here.

The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the week:  ‘I Got Your Number’ by La Bionda (Rulefinns lravstor gitarist edit)

La Bionda is one of those groups that, in the '70s, was tagged with that label of Italo Disco (Pitchfork, fairly recently, did a nice little piece on the genre’s history, if you’ve got some time on a lazy Sunday afternoon). Now, Rulefinns must have thought, what if I make the guitar the hero of this one, and just add a shitload of that in? So, next to the synths, the drumbeat, and all the stringwork that give this one its dancefloor pace and its disco vibe, you have this electric guitar in there as well, just to roughen them up a bit, those disco dancers. A second before the three minute mark you get the high pitched vocals in there, saying that Aiiiiiii’ve got your numberr, so no surprise what you’ll be doing tonight then, eh? In the mean time, you’re still dancing, with that beat and all those disco sounds persuading your body to do some moving and grooving. Deliciously fast paced as well, and the contrast between that guitar and basically the rest of the song-- which is baby-skin-soft-- that is just a nice little example of brains at work.

‘From The Basement To The Roof’ by Club Cheval

This one starts slow and easy, with just some piano and female vocals. Soon enough though, the beat comes in, and slowly it reveals itself as a nice little club track with a little pizzazz, not in the least because of the rhythmic vocals and the way the beat unfolds itself. In the main line “running from the basement to the roof” there, too, is a sense of movement, which this track just breathes, exhales, and does all kinds of other things with. Club Cheval also knows when to dial it down for just a moment, making sure that the poppy beat doesn’t outstay its welcome. And they also make sure when to make it the track’s main sound and when to help it out a bit with other instruments as well. Also enjoyable is the way they kind of play with the vocals, for example making the last two words of a line seemingly coming from somewhere/someone/someplace/else/somehow. The track has a nice vibrancy to it, which is contained by the piano bits that bookmark this song from Club Cheval’s yet-to-be-released debut album.

‘Ember’ by WhoMadeWho

WhoMadeWho is one of my personal favorites. I just like the deep sound, this melancholic mood, but always with a little fun and dance mixed in there as well. This one starts with a slightly-deep-near-Western guitar line, followed by some percussion and then those lovely vocals, singing that If you feel like having fun, you can’t say no until you’ve done time with me. Followed by that nice and deep guitar line and the drums courtesy of Barfod, who keeps this one moving forward. Just after the two minute mark there is a vocals only moment (as in, really, just vocals. Honestly), and after that the lads ride it out instrumentally. This one will be the title track of their new EP, to be released in May, so that is something to look forward to as far as I’m concerned.

‘Long Train Running’ by The Doobie Brothers (Disco Syndicate Version)

How about some of that dad-rock guitar to start this one off, with a fairly well-known riff I’d say. Then add the bass, some bongo’s (?!), and then the vocals of the Doobie Brothers, as it is their track ‘Long Train Running’ that gets the edit treatment here. And it is really a version geared to the dancefloor, with loads of moments where the instrumentals get turned down, just to get all that rhythm back in there again for that momentum building that you need. It’s not just about the rhythm though, with plenty of guitar being available for consuming, and plenty of vocals to go around. Around 2:38 you get a change-up in guitar (and with that, in mood, as the guitars are here a-plenty), though after another moment of primarily vocals-sans-drums you get the main sound again. Tom Johnston was the man behind this track, and he’s responsible for both vocals and that lead guitar riff, so if you’re a fan of him in particular amongst all the other Doobie Brothers, then you’ll be over the moon with this one.

‘Glass Grinder’ by Antoni Maiovvi

I always like me some Antoni Maiovvi. Nothing says cult b-horror-flick quite as much as some of this man’s output. You get the atmospheric sounds right there from the start, then the tougher strumming of that guitar-like sound, and all this before the beat comes in. Because vibe is always what sells me on his stuff, but with the hard hitting beat he does make sure that he keeps driving this one forward and that one can dance to it as well, for those freaks doing that crazy dancing after midnight. In the mean time he keeps coming with all these sounds that just fit the bill, that make sure there is this consistency in terms of mood that is so important if you want to do something like this right. So it’s lovely and dark (I mean, the track is called ‘Glass Grinder’ after all), and when those human yelps are put in you can’t help but smile and go at it a little bit harder. There’s also plenty of variety in there, hitting the drum computers and the synths hard, though always coming back to the main beat and slasher synths. Can I also just say that I love that he puts his set-up below the SoundCloud track? I’m always interested in what creates these sounds.

‘Redo’ by Adeline Michele

On production duties here is JKriv, who has made some amazing (nu-)disco in the past few years, some of them for which Adeline Michele was on vocal duties for. So you know it’s going to have this catchy-yet-lovelorn vibe with some silky smooth vocals on top of them. You’ve got the bass and the drums dictating the rhythm, and some sweet synth and guitar to round it all off. That little guitar line in the chorus, that is a lovely thing right there. At about 2:30 you get a bridge build on some percussion, before the synth comes back in again and you get some of the drum rhythm elements returning as well. Michele sings that she cannot rewind or redo her life, and she really cuts loose after the three minute mark. The track, anyway, has a big role in mind for the vocals, which get a bit of help from some retro synths at the end. It is a lovely track, with a nice disco & '90s soul + R&B vibe. Released on JKriv’s delicious DeepandDisco label.